


fire lily

by plotholes_and_paradoxes



Series: trial by fire [5]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Azula? Terrifying Murder Child, Iroh? Literally the Dragon of the West, The Fire Nation is Going to Learn to Love Him, What better PR could you ask for?, Zuko is Good With Children, Zuko is Nice to Children and Turtleducks, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:15:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26380237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plotholes_and_paradoxes/pseuds/plotholes_and_paradoxes
Summary: Zuko helps a lost child find her mother and a legend is born.
Series: trial by fire [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1837981
Comments: 16
Kudos: 467





	fire lily

Arina is too young to play hide and explode with her brother and his friends. She thinks this is quite unfair - she never gets to do anything fun! She should be allowed to wander through the festival grounds. But everyone says she’s too young or too small. Instead, she toddles through the merchant stalls, chasing the wild bunnycat that caught her eye. 

She runs into legs, clad in silk so fine he had to be noble. She looks up at him and starts crying. Mama always says to stay away from nobles. 

The boy bends down, eyes wide. “Oh, don’t cry.” 

Arina keeps sobbing. 

“Shh,” he says. He looks around desperately, eyes landing on a stall selling fire lilies. He buys one hurriedly, tossing enough coins at the vendor to buy a whole bouquet, and shows it to the child. “Here you go. Stop crying, please.” 

The little girl looks at the flower, tears drying on her cheeks. She makes grabby hands. “Pretty!” she chirps. 

“Yes, it is pretty,” the boy says. He leans down to hand the vibrant flower to her, but she keeps staring at him.

“Pretty!” she yells again, poking his face with one of her chubby fingers. “Pretty!” 

The boy blushes. “Where’s your mother, little one?” he asks. 

Arina just raises her arms. “Up!” she crows. 

The boy sighs and picks her up, balancing her on his hip. She dives for his hair and pulls it. (It is as soft as it looks.) 

“Gentle,” the boy winces. 

Arina ignores him and slides the firelily behind his ear and smiles widely, earlier tears completely forgotten. “Double pretty!” she smiles. 

The boy blushes even further, the scar on the left side of his face pulling. “Thanks. You’re very pretty too.”

Arina smiles toothily. Mama always says she’s pretty, and the noble boy with the soft hair agrees! 

“Now we have to find your mother.” The boy sighs, scanning the crowd. “Do you see her anywhere?” 

Arina wriggles until the boy lets her back down. She takes off again, the boy keeping up behind her. She stops at mama’s stall, the smell of fireflakes and spicy noodles filling the air. 

“How may I help you?” Mama asks without looking up from her cooking. 

The boy shuffles awkwardly. “Well, I thought your daughter was lost and hoped to return her, but it seems she knew the way back.” 

“Yes, that would be my Arina,” Mama smiles, looking up. Her face pales and she bows hastily. “I’m so sorry, my prince. She is so young, she meant no harm.” 

The boy looks horrified for a split second, before looking terribly sad. “No harm was done,” he says. When Mama doesn’t move from her bow, he adds, “Really, I wouldn’t hurt her.” 

Mama looks up again, hope gleaming in her eyes. “Thank you, my prince, for your mercy.” 

The boy forces a smile. “It isn’t mercy. I’m just doing the right thing.” 

He leans down again, until he’s Arina’s height. “Goodbye, little one. I hope you enjoy the festival.” 

“Goodbye pretty!” she crows. Mama looks horrified - but the boy just smiles. 

(Every year for the rest of Arina’s childhood, on the first day of summer, her mother finds a fire lily on the front step of her shop. As for Prince Zuko: if he had lived a slightly different life, he might have inspired stories about a masked swordsman saving the day. In this one, he inspires lullabies about a Prince who held a peasant child and didn’t hurt her. The Fire Nation, ever so slowly, begins to heal.)


End file.
